A man from Texas' Grimes County reportedly credits "divine intervention" for helping him find a missing 3-year-old boy.
The Christian Headlines said Tim Halfin felt he was lead by God to the location of the boy, Christopher Ramirez, who went missing last October 6 around 1:30 p.m.
Ramirez' mother, Araceli Nunez, was carrying groceries into their house from their car when the child vanished despite her taking only two minutes, ABC News revealed. A neighbor reported seeing Ramirez run into the woods while chasing after his dog. This led to a search party being setup immediately by the Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office then utilized all its resources--K-9 units, aircraft, drones, numerous volunteer on-foot searchers, and rescue parties--to comb the woods day in and out to find the missing boy but to no avail. But Halfin found Ramirez easily on Saturday, October 9, in the woods near his home in Plantersville, which is five miles from where the boy lives.
According to Halfin, he was in Bible study that Saturday when news on the lost boy was flashed on the news. He then and there felt that God was asking him to search for the missing boy. Halfin did so around 11:45 a.m. beginning with the woods near his home. It didn't take long for him to hear a child's voice and so he called out the child's name to verify if it was.
"I said, 'Christopher, is that you? Then he speaks again, and I'm like, 'Whoa! Praise God!'" Halfin recalled in an interview.
Halfin then moved to the direction of the voice and found the boy calm and healthy though completely naked. Halfin said the child has shed his clothes but is able to talk. He then called 911 and the Sheriff's deputies came with the child's mother.
"I don't know what to make of it. All I know is he was found safe. When I picked him up, he was still talking. He wasn't shaking, he wasn't nervous. The things I would expect. Maybe he just sensed, 'I've been found'," Halfin share regarding his encounter with Ramirez.
Ramirez was then brought to the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston where he was treated for minor facial scratches and for dehydration. He was sent home on Monday afternoon.
Halfin added that he realized God inspired him to look for Ramirez so that he could be brought back to his mother. Halfin also pointed out that God wanted to remind people on the value of hope as he cited how those involved in the Ramirez' search and rescue team told him they couldn't sleep after not finding the boy.
"That's what it's all about right there. That's why everybody was praying. That's why God laid it on my heart to go look, to reunite that boy with his mom," Halfin said.
"They told me, 'We didn't feel like we could sleep because we knew he wasn't sleeping and he wasn't found.' I think the story is do not give up hope even though things look bleak, there's always tomorrow," he stressed.
During a press conference, Grimes County Sheriff Don Sowell presented Ramirez with an honorary junior deputy badge for surviving four days in the woods by himself.
"He ought to be the ultimate Army Ranger, Navy SEAL, Air Force when he wants to grow up. He's already passed the first test," Sowell said.
